Brett Conti: How to Hack $20,000 Luxury Flights and Build a Nomadic Empire
How do you fly first class for free while building a seven-figure brand?
I just sat down with Brett Conti.
He is a professional traveler and YouTuber who has built a 1.5M+ following documenting life globally.
In this episode you’ll learn:
The exact “Points Hacking” framework to book $20,000 first-class suites for 80,000 points.
How to fund a nomadic lifestyle before brand deals by running remote businesses.
The legal lesson from a massive lawsuit that nearly destroyed his first clothing company.
We dive into the details later in the conversation.
If you like the episode, please subscribe.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
2:32 Adventures and Risks in Travel
8:29 Scams and Hustles in Travel
14:15 Luxury Travel and Points Hacking
24:47 The Mile High Club and Travel Fitness
35:42 The Reality of Being a Travel YouTuber
40:47 The Journey to Profitability in Content Creation
51:36 Launching Bee Leaf: A New Venture
58:50 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
1:02:27 Exploring New York City: Hidden Gems
1:06:49 Final Words of Wisdom
Listen
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Here’s the full transcript:
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (00:00.046)
There’s nothing that still to this day gives me more life than making YouTube videos and traveling. People would love to do what you do. How do you actually fund travel in the early days before actual deals roll in? I had a business and as soon as I figured out how to run that business remotely, I left the country. But something I’ve learned is that it’s not about the money you’re saving, it’s about the money you’re missing out on. You posted a video flying in a $20,000 first class suite, sharing on the plane, eating caviar.
How do you hack the system to travel business class? I see deals where it’s like 80,000 points to fly from New York to Australia and just knowing how to find those deals. You famously decided to swim across Asia to Europe in Istanbul. I did not know how to properly swim. And on race day, was pouring rain. I start freaking out because like 20 minutes in, I look back, I’m like, haven’t gone far at all. What did you do when you were panicking? Do know the truth?
Welcome to That One Time with Adam Matwally, the podcast bridging the gap between health, hustle and happiness. Today I’m with Brett Conti. Brett is a YouTuber, entrepreneur and professional traveler who has built a following of over 1.5 million people by documenting his life around the globe. He’s the founder of Bee Leaf, an organic wellness tea brand that he built while traveling full time. From swimming across continents and hacking the credit card point system,
to flying the world’s most expensive airline seats for free, he has cracked the code on modern travel. Today, we’re digging into the craziest stories that he’s never told, the lawsuit that almost destroyed his business, and the exact strategy he uses to fly business class without paying a dime. Brett, what is up, my friend? What’s up, Adam? It’s so awesome to be back here. Thank you. for coming on, man. Yeah, it’s cool, because last time I came on, we...
had mutual friends and like acquaintances, but I feel like since then we’ve become like actual good friends and now hang out all the time. So I feel like the conversation will flow even better. I love it. I can’t wait. Let’s do it, bro. So you travel for a living, which is a dream for 99 % of people, but I want to know the nightmare side first. What is the single craziest or most dangerous experience you’ve had while traveling?
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (02:21.804)
You know, nothing that’s been like life or death, to be honest. Like I feel like as a traveler, you get good enough where you know where to keep yourself safe. But the first thing that comes to mind where I actually look back and I’m like, I probably shouldn’t have done that was in 2020, me and two of my best friends did this thing called the Ha Zhang loop. And now like you pretty much have to do it with a guide, but we did it alone.
and you’re riding on the border of Vietnam and China for five days. And sometimes you’re on the edge of cliffs where you only have about a foot and a half on the side of a cliff with no guard rail. If you fall, that’s it. So doing that, looking back as someone who doesn’t really know how to ride dirt bikes and motorbikes, probably shouldn’t have done that, but I’m glad I have the footage and can live to tell the story. That’s crazy. That’s good. What was the craziest moment in that moment?
In that experience? In that experience, I think for one, just like some of the parts of the rides were just a little too risky for a beginner. Cause back then, now I’m a lot better, but back then five, six years ago, I was not good at like dirt bikes and stuff. So that was really sketchy, but it was also probably my favorite trip I ever did. And I guess that’s just how it works. What about it made it your favorite trip? The Vietnamese people are the
coolest, kindest, most welcoming people where it was a five day trip and we would stay in these like home stays where a lot of them were just built by these families. Like we stayed in a tree house that was built by this guy’s grandfather. The kid was about our age and he ended up inviting us to go have dinner with his family and we’re just taking rice wine shots. And he told us a good Vietnamese principle or a rule. He said, no, no drunk, no go home.
So we had a drink one by one with everyone at the dinner table. And actually it wasn’t a dinner table. We were eating on the floor. That’s how they do it out there. But yeah, I had to take about 22 shots of rice wine with all these Vietnamese people. Best night of my life. Were you lit? yeah. yeah. That’s amazing. Yeah. Couldn’t be rude though. As a traveler, I always say yes to everything like that. Yeah. It’s a good way to be. You famously decided to swim across Asia to Europe in Istanbul.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (04:45.454)
Tell us more about this. Okay, that was probably the scariest thing I’ve actually ever done. really? I think so. Like if you’re a great swimmer, like if you swam in college or something like that, you could do this swim, of course. But I didn’t know what freestyle swimming was. I thought that meant you just swim how you want, like freely. I didn’t know that freestyle was this actual technical swim. That’s how, like I’m a New Yorker. Like I don’t, I’m not going to go out to like.
Pony Island and go learn how to swim out there. I don’t know. But anyway, I did not know how to properly swim, but I’ve just been getting into this phase in my life in my early thirties of just learning how to do stuff that scares me and that I never learned as a kid. So after getting into running, I was like, what’s the next feat? And I heard about this when I was in Turkey last year. We’re like, yeah, this is the only place in the world that you can swim across continents.
And that just like lit up in my mind. was like, that’d be the coolest. Thumb down now. In a way. Yeah. Well, I need to add that to my life resume. Like that just sounds so bad ass. So I signed up, pay like 700 bucks to the entry fee and that was it. was like, now I have five months to learn how to swim. I was horrible at first. First day of training. was like, what excuse can I come up with to get out of this?
That’s how my, I think that’s how all of our brains works. It’s just that fight or flight mentality. But luckily this isn’t my first rodeo. So I knew that. So I could control that thought in my mind. I was like, I know this is normal. I’m going to go home. I’m going to study. I’m going to get better day by day, just 1 % every day. And by five months from now, I’m to be able to do this swim. And that’s exactly what happened. I went home, learned more about freestyling. I hired a coach, hired instructors, and just every day just worked on getting a little bit better.
to eventually I went out there. How far was it? It was five miles, like eight kilometers. How long did it take you? Like three hours. Oh, stopping. Oh, shit. So yeah, it was, you know, the best thing that happened to me was I had my first ever panic attack while training. And I’m it wasn’t in the ocean. So that’s kind of what happened. So it happened when I was with the trainer and she told me like, this is actually
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (07:08.462)
Good that this happened because if it happens on race day, you’ll at least know what to do. And on race day, was pouring rain for the first half hour. I start, I start freaking out cause like 20 minutes in, I look back and I’m like, dang, I haven’t gone far at all. you can’t see the finish line for miles. I have like three bridges to like go through first. So I started panicking and I literally just had to like,
reflect on that time that it happened before and knew that I can get through this. What did you do when you were panicking? I know the truth. You ever seen Finding Nemo? Yeah. There’s like a scene where Dory is like, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. So I would just say that in my head on repeat, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. And eventually I made it to the finish line three hours later. I guess that’s the concept. Yeah, exactly. It worked. So shout out to Dory.
That’s the honest truth. It’s pretty lame, but it actually worked. I love it so much. so travel isn’t glamorous all the time, right? No. What’s one of the funniest or most embarrassing things that’s happened to you abroad? You know, it’s hard for me to like get embarrassed. I’ve definitely done stupid things where I’m like, ah, next time I’m not going to do that. I try not to do too much research when I go to a place because I want to like be able to see it for myself.
But there is like proper etiquette or even like Japan. There’s so many things that you should probably know before going there. Like when I was 22, graduated college, I went to Japan by myself and I’ll never forget this because it was so mind blowing to me. I was starving. So I just got off of like the train from the airport and I’m like, picked up some fast food and I’m walking and eating. And a local Japanese person came up to me and like was telling me to stop how you don’t walk and eat.
Like you enjoy your food. And that to me was just like, wow, I feel rude that I should know these little things that you shouldn’t do in different countries, in different countries, cultures. So from there, I started learning at least just like, what are the respectful things to do in a country? rather than just looking at like the best things to do. So for me, it’s always about like proper etiquette and showing respect. Cause this is their land. So this is their culture. I don’t want to disrespect them. And that’s my biggest fear.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (09:34.722)
to do when I’m going to a new country. Yeah. What’s been the most interesting or strange cultural norm that you’ve come across in your travels? So many are popping up right now, but yeah, like getting home from the Amazon just two days ago and I got to hang out with the local Amazonian tribe and they told me how it’s like a special treat when you eat this beetle that’s alive. It looks kind of like a mix between a finger and a flaccid penis.
It just moves around with a little Turns on the angle. Yeah. Exactly. And they told me to bite its head to kill it. And then you put the rest of it in your mouth and just eat it. so you spit out the head and then No, no, you eat the head. But you do that first to kill it. So you bite the head, it crunches, and then you throw the rest in your mouth and then you bite and it’s like juice explodes. What does it taste like?
Alright, I ate it grilled first, so already dead, and that was pretty good. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty good. was like butter popcorn almost on a grill. Like it was not bad. The live one I don’t want to do again. That one was crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside, hard to swallow. Like very, it was like, took me like probably a minute to chew it down. So. What’s it taste like?
Honestly, that one tasted exactly how you think it would taste. Like imagine eating a beetle or a cockroach and like it tastes like how you would think. Not very good. No disrespect to the people who love it. For me, it wasn’t my favorite meal, but I’m glad I did it once. Okay. don’t have a big Amazonian tribe audience on the podcast. Disrespect. Travel has a lot of scams.
You know, traveling, there’s a lot of scams and the scams are everywhere. So have you ever been properly hustled or robbed? And how did that, how did that happen? Ooh, yeah. Um, in my earlier days, now you know how to sniff them out. You can almost read people better too, as you get older. So I remember being 23 in Thailand and, uh, like to to driver when we were trying to go to the grand palace was like, Oh, you actually can’t go in.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (11:54.156)
this time, like they’re actually clothes or like was making up some excuse of like why we can go in. He’s like, and you also like need pants and all this, even though they have like almost like a dress that you could put around your shorts to still be respectful. and made up this whole thing. And then we ended up getting in the toot toot with him and he drove us around. ended up like buying stuff. And then we found out that it was actually open the whole time and you could go. So there’s like little things like that to look out for and not saying that there’s
you know, there’s just bad people everywhere that will try and scam you. And they see a Western tourist, they see dollar signs. So you learn how to read that. But the one place that stands out the most where I was almost confused how nice they were everywhere in the middle East, but then the Philippines, the Philippines, they see a traveler and they just want you to have an incredible experience in their country that they’ll go so far out of their way to help you to have a great time here. So.
Was it a local Thai? Was he an actually a Thai guy or was he? Yeah, he was a local. Yeah. I’m not going to say he was a bad person, but he just was like, oh, I can trick these guys and, you know, make an extra 15, 20 bucks. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I got scammed in Paris, but they weren’t, they’re not Parisians. They’re they’re foreigners. Yeah. And, um,
Yeah, I mean, I was a bit of an idiot. played a ball and cup game. That’ll do it. But then I was like, how did they just like move the cup and not get it right? I looked it up. I looked it up afterwards because I was so confused. I didn’t realize it. There’s like five or six of them. And they work together. They all work together. And I think they’re like either gypsies or just like out of like foreigners that just do this and prey on tourists. I Paris is really bad for that. And basically the whole game is they get, they have the ball and cup.
And they’re like, look, wow, and bet $20. And if you get it right, get the money. And there’s people playing, but they’re fake. And then the guy’s playing, and it’s all fake. And then there’s someone that’s standing there watching. then someone, like a tourist walks by, the person standing there watching then engages the tourist, and like, this is interesting. Look at this. And then the tourist is like, that’s weird. And then they look, and they watch. And the guy’s playing, and the money’s exchanging back and forth.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (14:12.238)
The tourists put some money in, which I was. I think I put like 50 bucks in or 50 euros or something. I don’t know. I think that was the price at the time. I was like 23 as well. And then they do it and you pick the cup and it’s not under there, even though you know it’s under there. And what they do is they push the ball up the cup on the flip over or at some point they do it quickly. I don’t know exactly how. Maybe it like sleight of hand or quick distraction.
and then they open up the cup and it’s not there. And then the same people that are just watching are then ushering you away. Be like, ah, bad luck, ah, that’s a shame. You know what I mean? And it’s like this whole labyrinth game. And then they take the money and then they’ll move. That’s the whole game. So I was like, what the fuck just happened? Got really confused, left, thought about it, and then went back the next day and watched.
And saw how was done. I saw the whole process and I was like, And then I started talking shit. And then in the process of talking shit, was like, maybe I shouldn’t do this because I might get beaten up. And I was a lot more passive than I am now. I’d be like, come on, let’s fucking do it. But back then I was a more passive. Now I would like give them hell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But jeez. Yeah, it’s funny how sometimes a lot of those experiences
actually happened in the Western countries of Europe or even in America. The only time I’ve ever had anything stolen, like my camera gear, was ironically in America. Yeah, my camera got stolen at Coachella. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s just like, it’s interesting growing up. I know you grew up in Australia, but growing up in America, you get this perception that the Middle East or Asia is such a dangerous place, but it is multiple.
than America. Yeah. Well, I think there’s also, we’re probably lulled into a bit of a false sense of security here. And you’re a bit more on guard when you’re outside of the country. people prey on that, innate trust between one another that I think is higher, is pretty high in the Western world. And what it used to be, it’s starting to really deteriorate. But that’s, that would be my guess. Yeah. I agree. That’s good point. Yeah.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (16:35.916)
What’s the most alien or shocking location you’ve traveled to where you felt like you’re on a different planet? City-wise, the first one that comes to mind that everyone needs to go to is Japan. Japan, even though it is like a popular tourist destination, it is one of the most incredible. And as soon as you get off the plane, you’re like, how is this planet earth? Everything operates so differently. The people act so differently. The food is incredible. China’s also
in a similar way, just like that, where you’re like, how the fuck is this planet earth? Like you teleported to a different universe. Then I would say also going to Africa, like Tanzania and spending time in the Serengeti was one of the most special trips of my life and getting to just see how animals there operate in their natural habitat was like the most awe inspiring trip of my life. Really? What do you mean?
getting to see a pride of lions with the baby cubs hunt a wildebeest. So yeah, it’s pretty gruesome and you get to see some, you know, a lot of blood. But it was still so like, I had like the chills that whole trip to see like, yeah, this mother lion, like hunt a wildebeest, drag it into the shade and then seeing like seven little cubs feasting on it. So like just to see that.
It’s indescribable and you have to see it for yourself. It’s like watching the real life lion king, you know, it’s crazy. Yeah. What about it was so fascinating. So it’s like you go to a zoo and they’re in a cage and it’s our world. You go to the Serengeti, you’re in a cage, which is a Jeep in this case, and it’s their world. Like you are so vulnerable. You get out of the cage, like you’re a target. So I think just
getting to feel so vulnerable out in the animals territory was something you need to experience. Were there any moments where you were like, this is a bit close for comfort? A lion roared at us. A male lion with like the huge, you know, hair, beard looking male. Yeah. And they just sleep all day. It’s the women that go out and hunt. Crazy.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (18:58.306)
But yeah, having a male lion roar at us was pretty terrifying where even our guy was like, yeah, we should probably go now. Really? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. But they think of the Jeep as one unit. So they see this massive like 10 foot tall unit creature and they don’t just see the individual people unless like you get out. So it’s rare that they would like attack a Jeep, but doesn’t mean you don’t think they could when you’re out there. Yeah. Just quickly,
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And they’ll also provide the podcast a small kickback. These are two very easy ways for you to support us as we continue to grow the podcast that we absolutely love doing. Thank you for your support. And I’m back to the episode. want to want to move on to luxury travel and hacking travel. So you posted a video flying in a twenty thousand dollar first class suite sharing on the plane eating caviar. But honestly, how much of that did you actually pay for?
You know, it’s funny which time we talk. I feel like such a brat and I have to give a caveat. I traveled seven years back of the plane, like cheapest flight possible, but you know, I got to a place in my life where I can afford it. I figured out travel hacks, made the right connections and learned how to.
do it properly. So I’m not like a snob. Which time are you referring to? Do you even know? Anytime. Okay. How do I get those nice seats? Yeah. You can give us a few examples. yeah. I mean, even, this year I had to fly from Bali to New York last minute. So, points for it was like 90,000 points to fly business class one way. And I knew that from
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (21:17.41)
being in this world for a while now, I know what’s a good deal and that’s a pretty good deal. So jumped on it and transferred credit card points from Amex directly to Qatar, which is Avios and then booked it right there on the spot. So I think it’s just knowing partner airlines, staying loyal to one group of airline loyalty points, whether that’s One World, whether that’s Star Alliance, cause then it’s very easy to transfer within those.
airlines. So for example, I think it’s like British Airways and Qatar are both star Alliance. Don’t quote me on this, but like they’re part of the same thing. And recently built credit card, which a lot of us in New York at least, or in America used to pay rent. They had a promotion where if you transfer your points, you get like two X, your credit card points to miles. So
on those days when you see promotions, like sign up for new email newsletters to your favorite airlines. And they’ll send out promotions when they’re, they’ll send out emails when they’re having promotions of when’s a good time to transfer points. So I look for those and then just unload all of my points. Yeah. What, what, do think the benefit and the value of flying first class is? It’s a combination of like looking forward to your flight.
and it just makes it so much better. But also sleep where I still sometimes will like pay cash if I have to to upgrade if it’s a good deal where like I’ll buy economy and then maybe it’s like bid and I’ll put in a bid. And that happened recently going to Portugal where it was an overnight flight. And then I had something busy that day where I’d rather not lose a day as you get older and like into your, you know, in my early thirties now, like you want to have the most amazing
memorable days. And if I had to sit in the back of the plane and maybe had to sit like middle seat, I would have no sleep. The next day would be horrible. And I used to be able to do that when I was 23, even 28. But now if I can avoid having a bad day, there’s a price for that that I’m willing to pay. Especially if it’s like, this is a lot of money. Don’t get me wrong, but like a thousand bucks. If I can make sure I have an amazing day in Portugal that I’m going out there to do instead of having a horrible day for that first day.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (23:43.63)
it’s worth it to me. Yeah. What do you think the minimum cutoff is for you for a business class upgrade just to pay? All right. So I do have principles of how long a flight is, which are like, have this broken down so that I know on the spot how to make the decision. Cause sometimes when it’s like upgrade here, um, I can know what my, my willingness is to do that. Um, but if it’s a long haul flight, like, you know, I flew over 110,000 miles this year.
It was around the world like nine times. So yeah, and it was over 10 days of travel. So for me, if it’s under a thousand bucks to go from economy up to business, I will do it. What about a minimum flight? Like what’s the shortest flight? that you would accept it, a thousand dollar upgrade. Ooh, I don’t know. it’s something six hours, I’ll say economy, of course, like.
I’ll say economy going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong. But if I have a choice, I, I love, that’s my one thing. Like I live in a apartment that is financially below my means, but business class flights is something that just makes me really happy. You do it once and it’s really hard to go back. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I’m, I’m six, four and yeah. And it’s funny, my motivation to become successful is
honestly almost predicated in a big, big percentage just so I can not have to sit in economy. Cause it is fucking miserable. And going back to Australia, it’s 16 hours. Six foot four, 16 hour flight. That’s brutal. Economy and stuff. Yeah. So I will say the first time I flew legit business class, I did pay for it cash, which was like $6,000 round trip.
And from there, I was like, I need to figure out credit card points so I can do this, but for way cheaper. And now I’ve rarely ever paid for business class. And it’s always like the most cost effective way is usually buying economy and then upgrading with points. So for me, that’s kind of like been the most common way to go about it. Or sometimes just finding out, you’ll see deals where it’s yeah, like
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (26:02.958)
80,000 points to fly from New York to Australia and just knowing how to find those deals. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, explain the points game to us briefly. What are the two or three credit cards you actually carry in your wallet right now? Amex Platinum, because on travel you get 5x points. So when you are even buying an economy flight, you’re getting 5x the points or when you’re booking hotels. So for that one, I probably rack up the points the quickest and then built
credit card, is great for paying your rent. It’s the only credit card I know of where you’re getting points for paying rent. The third one, it’s the Visa has like a couple good cards that I have for my business account that I use. And that one’s only a hundred here. I think it’s just business preferred. Yeah, it definitely is.
Yeah, Visa, business preferred, it’s a hundred bucks for the year, but you still get like three X points on most things. So I think it’s just looking at what you spend a lot of your money on and then finding out what credit card is good for that. Another tip I’ll actually say that’s really good that a lot of people don’t know. This is for the entrepreneurs out there. So when I started my company, Belief-T, it’s probably stupid, but the first thing I did was get an Amex gold card.
because it’s 4x points on Facebook ad spends. nice. So if you’re spending $1,000 a month on Facebook or meta ads, that’s a lot of points right there. Yeah, definitely. When I came to New York, the first thing I did was I got a Chase Sapphire Reserve and I got an AMX platinum. And I’ve not been as good at racking up the points naturally, but I really focus on the bonus.
Yeah. Beginning bonuses. So when I come back next year, I’m going to then also get the AMEX Platinum business and the Chase Sapphire Reserve business. And then you get another 400,000 points there across like six months. Yeah. That’s where I’ve really dialed it in. So it’s like knowing when you have the big expense coming up and then to open one 100%. And I would even say the bonus can vary by the
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (28:13.742)
day because it’s like an algorithm targeting you or like maybe it’s 200,000 today and then you go back tomorrow and they like bumped it down to 100. But if you like use different VPNs or kind of wait a little bit, they’ll come back to you with like 250 and be like, all right, if you pull trigger now, we’ll give this to you. So you know I’m talking about. Yeah. Yeah. And another really good hack that I heard is every year when you, the renewals coming up, cause the renewals for these cards are generally pretty expensive, but if you get all the points there, it’s worth it. And you travel, you make your money back.
pretty comfortably. Maybe say a month or a few weeks before the renewal date, calling them and going, I’m going to cancel. What are you going to do about it? And then maybe they waive the fee, but most of the time they don’t waive the fee or be like, give me another hundred thousand points or I’ll leave. Wow. You like hold them at gunpoint. Why not? They want you there. Especially if you drop like, you probably drop like fucking, I don’t know, 10 grand a month. Like, yeah, I spent over six figures on travel. Exactly. So, so.
That’s worth it to them. Yeah. So, All right. I’m gonna teach him me something. That’s what we’re here for. Hold them hostage. Give me all the credit card points. I know you got them somewhere. I want to hear, I want to hear about Qatar Airways Q suite. Apparently it’s voted the best in the world. Is it actually worth the hype or is it just a fancy chair? Qatar is the best.
The Middle East knows hospitality better than anyone. It’s indescribable. You have to experience it for yourself. I would say Qatar and Emirates economy, so good. Like if I’m flying economy across the world for 16 hours, I’m doing that. No problem. And the air hostesses tend to be really attractive. I’ve noticed. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Emirates, definitely they know how to pick them.
For sure. But the Qatar Q suite was one of the first ever business classes that I’ve flown. And that’s what made me fall in love with business class. Cause you have like your own room, you have a sliding door. There’s a vibrating chair button, which I’ve never seen on an airplane before. And then just the food, like I’m eating lobster tails. I’m eating steak. You can order as much food as you want to.
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So it’s just like an open buffet. Like I probably got my money’s worth just from like the amount of delicious food I ate. that’s so good. Our mutual friend Jordan Twally got a bit of hot water from ordering all the food. Yeah, maybe don’t order everything like he did. Like he literally ordered one of everything. And people were hating on him. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure he like ate food that other people were supposed to, but they couldn’t say no. But yeah, so maybe limit it to like three or four meals.
I will say though, Emirates, I love because they have a bar on the plane. So you go to the back of the bar and it’s only for business and first class. And yeah, you can just like hang out at the lounge. You can meet really cool people. That’s the other thing. The networking opportunities in business and first class, even in the lounge is that potentially valuable. Potentially if you’ve got a business or a way to funnel people into working together, that could in itself be worth more than the cost.
100%. Yeah, I remember I was flying business sitting at the bar and the one person I talked to was the president and CEO of Corcoran Real Estate here in New York. If you know Corcoran, I think it was founded by Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank. And yeah, it’s just like the people that are there are the people you want to be around. Remember I was also flying Emirates home that same trip and one of the founders of Ethereum was on our flight. I didn’t get to like go say hi to him, but the bartender was like, yeah, like.
That’s the guy. That’s the guy. Those are the people and the circles you want to be around. So it makes it worth it once you are a young professional or any age really once you’re in the working world. Yeah. That’s similar to New York as well. Like pay to be in the right rooms is a, is a maximum you hear over and over again in the business space, especially you’re coming up. So what’s the, what’s the wildest amenity you’ve received on a plane, like pajamas, chef, anything crazy?
All right. So this was probably my favorite experience in my career I’ve gotten to do. So yeah, like I’m a travel YouTuber and I have now a lot of relationships with a lot of big airlines, but it’s usually some type of, you know, sometimes they’ll upgrade me or some, know, there’s little things never paid, but this summer I got hired by Lufthansa, a paid campaign to make a video.
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about their newest first class, which they have three seats and they booked out all three of them just for me. And I was actually flying with our mutual friend Joe and they didn’t even put, they put him in business class and I got to bring him up. Like when we were in the flight, like to sit with me, cause my seat was like a room. But that was the wildest experience of my life from eating sushi to having like a full dining room size table in my room that him and I can eat and play cards at.
What else? We are eating caviar, we’re drinking the finest wines and just having everyone in that first class has a Stortus to themselves. So I had like multiple to myself. It was insane. That one didn’t have a shower. Emerson has a shower. shower is so good. a concept. I’ve never had a playing shower. Yeah. That’s on my bucket list. Ethiod, which is from Abu Dhabi. is from Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
They have this one seat called the residence and it’s a full room where you have a living room, your own private bathroom with a shower and then a bedroom all in one seat. So that’s next. That’s coming up. When are we getting on the PJ private jazz? I think that a better experience is, I mean, I haven’t flown private, but I, from what I’ve heard, it seems like flying first or business is almost the better experience. I don’t know. I don’t want to talk, but I don’t know. I don’t know how it could get any better.
Cause having it all to yourself. Yeah. Yeah. So next time I’m on the podcast, hopefully I have that experience. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right. I’m happy with just flying business. Not going to lie. Peasant. We’re talking about this cause I, I hope I’m not coming across too much like a snob. No, no, no. I am extremely grateful. It’s It’s your game. It is. It is. So I’m extremely grateful that this is what I get to do for work. Yeah. It’s sick. Yeah.
It’s very aspirational and that’s why we’re talking about it. Because people wouldn’t experience this and they get to hear about the stories that they might not experience. Or maybe they learn something and they eventually get to experience it. Right? No, it’s so true. For Amex, use my code. one time. Exactly. Probably won’t work if you’re 20 and bad. Hey, you both usually get 20,000 points. So it might be worth it. There you go. Do you have an affiliate with Amex? I do.
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I remember I had like a viral video about how to get a cheap business class seat using Amex and I put in my referral thing. I max it out right away. I think that video got 4 million views. They max it out on you? cap it at like 200,000 a year or something. gotta call, talk to someone in Amex to get that. I’ll hold them hostage. Let me have a million points. Okay, let me in the vault.
Before we move on to the next segment, I want to ask you really important question that I think everyone is wondering. Have you ever joined the Mile High Club? Wow. Wow. I will say this. Yes. But it’s not the Mile High Club you think. I ran a mile on the plane.
I’m not even joking. I was flying the world’s longest flight from New York city to Singapore, 19 and a half hours. And that’s not healthy for your body. I’m a runner. I need a move. I’m also just have bad ADD. So I decided I was going to do, I think it was like 60 laps around the plane. And I hit a mile. autistic kid.
So it depends on your definition of what the mile high club is, but yes, the other one.
Not yet. How would you logistically do that, do you think? As a travel expert, how would you logistically join the MindHard club? easy ways how to do it. But I’ve. All right. So this you could probably go to jail for. Because.
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I’m not saying do this, but you know, like Qatar Q suites, if you’re bolt sitting business class, the door can come down in between you. So you have one big bed. So, and you have like your own little room. So technically you could, but I have a good relationships with the car, Qatar Airways. So I want to specify, I’m not encouraging this. You would probably go to jail because they’re so strict with that stuff. Is it illegal? They definitely have very strict laws with like. Oh, because of Qatar.
Well, like, yeah, exactly. Like in the Middle East, it’s very disrespectful to show public affection, even holding hands. you’re married, right? I believe so. I’m not too sure about that. But yeah, like out of respect, like I don’t want to go to a country and do something that isn’t respectful to them.
If you were to airline are we going to logistically make this like a European one? I feel like they encourage it there in Europe. So yeah, yeah, I don’t want to give any any tips and be held liable. I flew business class on Qantas and I made friends with this. Wait, have you joined? No, not yet. OK, yeah, there was this I don’t think that would.
They were just going on a trip together. They weren’t actually dating. But it was me on the window seat, and they had the two middle business seats. And I slept. And in the overnight period, they had sex in those seats. That’s impressive. I was like, so that’s how you do it. I have to get two business class seats on a long haul 16-hour flight. And when everybody’s asleep, that’s when you go for it.
it’ll just cost you about $10,000. It’s probably worth it for the story or 120,000 points with the right moves. That’s it. If you use Adam’s code. Yes sir. Cause your code’s Exactly. Yeah. So, um, I want to move on to the reality of the dream life. Um, like people see the edited versions of your life and probably think it’s perfect. What’s the biggest misconception that people have?
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about being a full-time travel YouTuber? I will say, I think all humans can always want more or to live a happier life or look at someone else’s and compare themselves. But I am so grateful for this to be my job and the life I get to live from it. And I will say it does come with a lot of stresses. And I think that just comes with being a creator, someone who is very...
about what they do and just cares where I love creating YouTube videos more than anything. And it becomes stressful for that reason. Cause I don’t want to let down my audience. want to make sure I’m posting consistently. want to make sure that I’m putting out stuff that I’m proud of. And you know, there’s times where even I was in Costa Rica, not even two weeks ago, and I was up until three 30 in the morning, editing a video to then post the next day at like 8 AM and
that video in particular, I wish I had more time to do is just like very stressful. So it’s like, sure, I’m going to get four hours of sleep that night and then have an post that video of an awesome day in Costa Rica, get to film and do all this. a lot of the times it’s a little, it’s a lot of late nights and early mornings. And there’s this saying that I love, which is if you don’t want a nine to five, be prepared to hustle 24 seven. that’s exactly what being a YouTuber is about. The content never sleeps. Yeah. Yeah. It’s tough.
What are some strategies you use to stay on top of it mentally? Yeah. building a small, I emphasize on the small team because having a big team as a creator I’ve done and it is just stressful. That’s even more work and you’re micromanaging and it’s just not something I’m looking to do for a creator business. Other businesses, of course, but for the creator business, keeping it as lean as possible. But I recently had my editor leave.
to go focus on his own thing and you know, so stoked for him that I can be a stepping stool to get him to his dream. But right now it’s just me and someone else on my team who’s been helping out with the editing, but we don’t have like a main lead editor. So I’m doing a lot of it myself. So now actively hiring that. So anyone listening? He’s a great class A editor. Hit me up. We are hiring for that position. So it’s just a...
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being on top of time management and also hiring the right people. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So speaking of that, speaking of like the money component, people would love to do what you do, but how do you actually fund travel content creation in the early days before actual deals roll in? Yeah. Back when I had like 5,000 subscribers, I went heavily on to travel for at least a couple months where I went
fully nomadic and just traveled for about six months. And did you have a lot of savings in that time? I would say I had about maybe maybe $4,000. Yeah, not much. But I had a, I had a business. So I owned a clothing company that was in a big chain store called zoomies. And as soon as I figured out how to run that business remotely,
I left the country because it’s a lot cheaper to live in other parts of the world, especially in Asia where I went than living in New York city. But something I’ve learned is that it’s not about the money you’re saving. It’s about the money you’re missing out on. And that’s what made me want to come back to New York after traveling, because I knew that if I was here, I’d be in the right ecosystems, be in the right rooms to grow to the amount of money I wanted to. So all that to say, how did I get
or how did I fund those trips back then? It was from doing my own business on the side that I could operate, but then still spend a lot of my time and energy doing YouTube. Cause that was my biggest passion. Like the clothing company was great for the time and I was very excited about it then, but YouTube I loved. Like there’s nothing that still to this day gives me more life than making YouTube videos and traveling. how long into that spark of the passion?
and actual breakeven profitability was it? On content creation? Yeah. So I guess like at first I wasn’t really documenting the cash of it. So was like, oh, I just want to travel anyway. I want to make YouTube videos. And it wasn’t really making any money. Like, you know, we’re talking 50 to a hundred bucks a month in AdSense, no brand deals yet. But then I got really lucky where when I had about 15,000 subscribers,
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This was also just due to being in New York and having the right connections. long did it take you to get to 15,000 subscribers from when you started committing to it? I would say 2016, I like started posting consistently. What’s consistently? Every day or every other day. I did that for a couple months, then I like slowed it down a little bit, but that got me momentum. And then in 2017, I was still posting like
every day, every other day, as much as I could. And then by the end of 2017, I had about 15,000 subscribers. So I would say it was about two years, let’s call it. And then I got a opportunity from Sony to make a video for their newest, it was almost like a GoPro. And I got a $10,000 budget to make the video, which $10,000 when you’re like 23 or 24.
is like a million dollars now. It was life changing. had never seen $10,000 before in like my bank account or anything. So to be able to get that opportunity, I decided to spend all of it and bring my best friend who was also an aspiring creator to Thailand with me to film the video. Was that a good investment? 100%. 1000%. Like I wish at the time I was like, Oh,
I wish I saved more and budgeted out this production properly, but that solidified that I knew for the rest of my life, I wanted to make travel videos because I never to this day, like felt more alive than that moment right there from like the moment of getting the email saying how I got it, the deal to going out there, filming it, to editing it, to putting like so much blood, sweat and tears into that video. I knew.
that I just found the love of my life. I love that. Yeah. Sick. We have had very different life experiences. How so? Like I was at 23, I was living at home, studying engineering and business and owned a nightclub and had a hundred grand saved. Wow. US or Australian? Australian. I wasn’t thinking US. Still a lot more than I Yeah. Yeah. mean. No, I didn’t.
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I didn’t start making good money until I was about 27, 28. I guess like 27 was when I had six figure years, but then it exponentially grew pretty quick. See, I had six figure years from like 22 onwards. Okay. And then it peaked at like...
2019, 2020, and then it has not come back anywhere near since. Hey, not yet. But you’re doing all the right steps to get you’re right. Everything’s changed. whole world changed from then on. So this is, I feel like, where you felt at 22, but now at 33. And it’s a weird place to be, going from the complete opposite of just easy, chill life, just cruising along to now. It’s like, oh, I’m like.
I’m my 30s. Hey, you know, it’s so cool though that like you’re building your life story that we all have and some people go through different phases and chapters and yeah, so for my like early to mid 20s is a lot different than yours, but it’s going to be so cool in two decades from now to look back on and tell these stories of like the different phases. And it was like, Oh yeah, 33, like I was broke or not making good money. And like before that I was like making great money. then
When I hit 35, like everything exploded. So I think we’re all living our stories in different ways. But at the end of the day, we’re going to have such unique stories to tell. Definitely. I mean, the difference also was like YouTube is a very scalable business because of the internet. Like what I was doing was not scalable. And I hit my ceiling pretty quickly. I think what I got to financially was about without adding a significant amount of risk was about where I was going to.
stay. And then what I did was I added a significant amount of risk and it didn’t work out. And all in all, after liquidating everything, the payback debts, I probably lost about a half a million dollars. Wow. Australia. So thank you for clarifying. So it was, it’s been a wild ride. Yeah. But now I’m switching around. I’m switching into more scalable projects like media and content.
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So I’m in your 20. That’s probably why we’re probably, I feel like your 23 year old version of you, because I am your 23 year old version of you in this industry. Hey, that is such a great place to be. Life is so exciting. Like you’re just like so hungry and want to. Because I have no money to eat. Literally and figuratively hungry. Yeah. So I think that you’re in the greatest city in the world to like be able to have this escalate quicker than it could elsewhere. For sure. For sure. And I feel that. Yeah.
Yeah. Do you think about the algorithm changing and your income disappearing overnight with having all of your business tied into something like YouTube or Instagram? More so with Instagram, no shade to, you know, the platform as a whole or Zuck, but I feel like they’re all, they’re changing it so much so often that it’s really difficult to like,
want to be like a sole like Instagram creator. So I do it, but I feel like there’s a lot more risk there. So if you are a sole Instagram or a TikToker, I think you’re in greater risk and like should be looking at like a platform like YouTube. And I think YouTube has, you know, I’ve been doing this for like a decade and it’s pretty damn consistent. It’s getting better. seems like. Yeah, the ad revenue has only gotten better. The algorithm sure like changes, but like if you make a
All it really changes is like packaging your video. Yeah. Where like, I still just make like these adventure videos and I just have to maybe package them a little bit differently than I would five years ago. And it still has a great chance of getting a lot of views. So I think any advice for creators out there is like, if you’re just doing Instagram to maybe be looking at other platforms as well. Yeah. Yeah.
On top of, yeah. On of, yeah. replacing. Not stopping it, of course. Yeah. But I would say look at YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever experienced travel burnout where you’re in paradise or in an amazing country and you just hated it? No. No. It’s all love. Yeah. I don’t know if I’ve ever, I’ve been to cities maybe that I would never go back to, but I’ve never been to a country that I would not go back to. Yeah. Not saying I’m...
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itching to go back to Costa Rica where I just was because I just was there. But yeah, no, love it so much. Like I’ll actually say how I decided this last week because it’s been in the back of my mind for a while, but I am leaving New York. I’m giving up my apartment in January and I’m going to go fully nomadic for a bit. New York is home. I will be back. I’ll be here for sure this summer. My family’s all here, but
I think as much as I believe everyone should live one year in New York City in their life, I believe everyone should go nomadic for a year in their life to go explore the world, to learn more about yourself. So I’m very excited for this. Like I did six months when I was, you know, fresh out of college. And now just about 10 years later, I’m finishing the job and going to go nomadic for anywhere from four months to 12 months. Amazing. What are you thinking? Where are you going to go? You know,
I want to, I have a checklist of certain things I want to do from like getting my free diving certifications and go to Tulum to do that, to spending some time in Bali, which is great for recharging, going to the gym and having a bit of a routine, eating healthy food, but want to go to a lot of new countries. One of the first countries I plan to hit is Iraq. So I’ll mix it between posting up in places to then quicker exploration trips. So maybe I’ll only be in Iraq for.
a week, but then maybe I’m in Australia for like three weeks. But yeah, I’m so excited. Like it feels like I was 21 again and preparing for that trip. So even right now, just going through my checklist of things I need to do before I head out, like it’s giving me so much life and I’m so, so, so excited about this, but I will be back in New York. Like New York is home. Like I’m lucky I’m in a great place where I can
get an apartment whenever I want and you know, get back to that routine of life here. But for right now, like this is just, I know I’ll regret it. Like, has there ever been anything, maybe for you it was to move to New York from Australia, but when you’re thinking about something for months, even a year, I think of it as my future self calling me, telling me to pick up and go do that thing. Otherwise I’ll regret it. So that’s what is the catalyst in me knowing.
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I need to go fully nomadic right now. And if it hasn’t gone away after six months or a year of thinking about it, it’s probably you got it. Yes. Exploring it. It’s something that you probably won’t regret that. Yeah. Yeah. The framework that I used to come to New York was once I realized the plant once the seed had planted and I thought, hey, maybe I want to come here. I thought to myself, I’ve got two paths. I’ve got stay in Australia, just continue as is, get married, meet somebody, have some kids, live maybe in.
hometown or move to Melbourne, I don’t know, or take the leap on this New York trip with some indications that it would be okay that I built some like initial positive momentum. And when I’m 80 years old, looking back at this moment and these decisions, which of the two options will lead to better stories and will I regret less, do you think? And it’s a pretty easy one when you go back to that frame.
That’s exactly how I think of it too. Yeah. It’s like, if you’re 99 years old on your death bed and can come back to right now, what would you do? And I know for a fact, I would regret this if I didn’t do it. Like I worked so hard this past decade to be able to get paid to travel the world that I know if I didn’t like get to go fully nomadic and just to get to feel so free. Cause again, like I work so hard to be able to live a life where I’ll be able to make a great living while doing this.
So I feel like I’d be stupid not to. Yeah. Yeah. I want to switch gears into Bee Leaf. Yeah. So you launched organic tea brand called Bee Leaf, right? Why start with a physical product when you already have a channel, a successful YouTube channel, mind you. It was also one of those things where I had it in the back of my mind for a while from traveling around the world. know, tea is the most consumed drink in the world, but not in America.
Yeah, there we go. Adam’s drinking some belief right now. And I wanted to bring tea to America in like a fun, cool way and also a healthy way and like the wellness aspect of it. So all of our teas have more of a functional purpose than just a random like black tea. It’s more, we have our like ginger, lemon with L-theanine and honey and green tea and turmeric.
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Then we also have like our sleepy time tea that has magnesium and chamomile and adaptogens and licorice. So it was more creating a tea that I thought the people of America would mostly love as well as like bringing a fun brand to it. But to answer your question of like, a physical product? Honestly, just wanted to go for it with like a challenge. I had my clothing and skateboard business when I was in my early twenties.
And I learned so much from that, that now I get to apply to this and I’m already learning even more. So it’s almost like it’s my college MBA for entrepreneurship now. And now I have a lot more exposable cash that I don’t have to worry about it like I did with my first business. Cause I was living off of everything I was doing. So was spending so less in bootstrapping almost to a point, not almost, to a point where it hurt the company because I was like, why would I spend this a thousand dollars here where I
need that to pay my rent. Yeah, it’s tough. So now it’s like I can put in, you know, tens of thousands of dollars and not really have to expect to make that money back anytime soon. Yeah, or ever. Ideally at some point. But I’m still in the black by like probably like 40 grand now. We’re having a lot of sales, which is great. That’s great. Do you in the red or in the black? Oh, the red, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Well, speaking of
being in the red, you released a video titled, My Business Got Sued, What Actually Happened? Okay, that was with my clothing company. I was 22 and I didn’t know anything about intellectual property. I thought that you could put anything on a t-shirt and sell it. And what I did was my favorite artist, Keith Haring, legendary New Yorker, he...
had like, you know, he has this like signature stick figure looking figurine and I wanted to put that on a fortune shirt and like make it a collab. So me and one of my friends designed this dope shirt and sweater and we called it the Keith Haring times fortune. Fortune was my company, Keith Haring times fortune collab, but it had no association to Keith Haring. We at this time,
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It was our first order from the chain store zoomies, which is in every mall in America. And I get a seasoned assist from the Keith Herring foundation saying that I need to like pretty much light on fire all of the products and stop selling it immediately. So again, I’m like 22. I don’t know anything about lawyers. don’t have a lawyer. Like I have no money. I’m shipping these out of my mom’s garage, but this was like literally my first order to zoomies and I have to go to them and tell them.
Hey, we need to take that down and I need to like buy back all of that because Keith Herring Foundation is telling me they’ll sue me for all this money if I don’t. So what I did was freak out. And then I had to just bite the bullet and start working on new designs that were 100 % my IP. So it sounds stupid.
now saying it out loud, but like we all make mistakes like in your 22, just like figuring it out. Cause like I would have got away with it if I wasn’t in zoomies. That’s how they found out the moment it went on zoomies.com, they I guess have something in their, like their system that registers something just got added to a website with Keith Herring’s name. And then we got the season assist literally like that same week. So I think looking back,
I’m not, I’m not like I, I wouldn’t say I regret it. Like I had to learn that lesson somewhere. If it wasn’t then it would have happened later. And I had no experience in business. I, you know, just graduated from college studying finance. Like I didn’t know what I was doing, but now it’ll never happen again. Different problems happen at same time. And companies do that and then just like fight the season to cyst and like, we’ll like.
let it prolong for as long as possible. And just keep selling through. Just keep selling through until it hits a point that they’re really going to get sued. Yeah. So I wasn’t doing it for that reason, but there are times that Burger King or McDonald’s, companies will, like streetwear companies will do a spinoff and it’s not a McDonald’s collab. And yeah, they’ll maybe get a cease and desist and then they’ll prolong it for a bit. Yeah. I mean, well, that’s a, that’s a good point. If you’re a scrappy startup,
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dealing with bigger companies and intellectual property issues, there’s a minimum hurdle of probably 50 grand for the people trying to sue you of their costs to stop whatever you’re doing. And it’s a long, it’s not a quick process. a lot of small companies, you can just delay it. So maybe you could have sold through and then be like, sorry. We’re done now. And they’re probably not going to sue you.
And all I had to do is not put his name in it. Yeah. So that’s why a lot of companies can get through with those, uh, using other companies, logos or IPs and a collab like that when it’s on an official collab is just from not calling it in the name. Yeah. Were you scared? Oh, was terrified. I’ll never forget it. I was 22. I was solo traveling Europe. was in Austria in a hostel and I get that email. And again, you’re like six hours ahead than in America there.
or in New York. And it was late at night. I’m about to go to bed. I remember jumping out of my hostel bed, going into the lobby and calling my stepmom who works in comp- it was a compliance officer. And she’s like, oh shit. Yeah, we got to like not sell that. And she did like help calm me down. She’s a great motherly figure. So she like helped me like at least sleep through the night, but I was freaked out where I was like ended my trip early and like went back and how to just get rid of that product.
Yeah. Did you think it was over? I didn’t think it was over now because I just got like the, was a little worried about what would happen with zoomies because they were probably 75 % of the business. Yeah. Yeah. So they were luckily super cool about it and like understood and they’ve had that happen before. Yeah. so they were like, no problem. And then gave them new designs, but those shirts and hoodies did sell so well. So that was kind of sad. Yeah. They, what happened was actually, was
My second order from them, the first order they put me in five stores, it did so well, they doubled it to 10 right away. And then that’s when that happened. But luckily they still kept me in 10 stores. Then eventually we were in like 200 stores. That’s so good. Yeah. Nice. Do think anyone can become a successful entrepreneur or do you have to be a little bit crazy? Yeah, you definitely have to be an idealist. You have to not have limitations on yourself. You have to not be so deep in your mind. You can’t be an overthinker.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (01:03:40.43)
So for me, think like the best traits are people that aren’t afraid to fail and not afraid to be outcasts that have crazy big ideas that they’re not afraid to act on them. it’s a lot, it has a lot to do with creativity and being a risk taker. If you can, if you’re a creative person and you’re not afraid to take risks, those are two of the key things to being an entrepreneur. But yeah, if you love having a steady paycheck, if you,
don’t mind working nine to five. If you want to just live like a more stable life, then entrepreneurship is probably not for you because it’s none of that. Like if you like having a lot of sleep and all that, like, and don’t, can’t handle stress well, maybe just get a normal job because entrepreneurship definitely not sleeping much. You’re definitely having risks every single day where your one decision for the day could jeopardize tens of thousands of dollars or someone’s job or
XYZ. So it’s a very stressful thing. Yeah, for sure. But you love it. And I live for that. Like I don’t necessarily find it so stressful. I find it more like exciting. Yeah. Well, I mean, if I think, think back, there was one lesson I noticed, like I thought I’ve always thought pretty highly of myself on like an intellectual level. you know, you’re a great guy. Thanks man. But, I had
this small amount of success in my small city. And I would watch these people that I just thought were really dumb, blow past me and make decisions that I thought were like kind of stupid. And then like these people weren’t very smart in my head and they were making decisions that I didn’t think were that good. And then, but what they did have was the risk taking desire and a really good work ethic where they just hustled and
They created these people that I didn’t think were smart created good business outcomes just by having a real hot red hot crack and hustling. And I’m sitting there thinking like I’m also, you know, so smart and clever and have all these great ideas. And these people blowing past me. And it really made me wonder like, okay, what is actually, what are the important things to being successful? And then I lost.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (01:06:08.014)
boatload of money, just going a little bit too far down the other end of the spectrum. So there’s a fine line. Yeah, yeah, there is. There’s a fine line. So what do think the biggest tip is for a new entrepreneur that he’s trying to get in the game, but he’s struggling to see results yet? I will say from experience and every, I guess, different project business that I’ve been a part of, it’s always gotten easier where even with belief, I had to
stay up really late, wake up really early, getting a lot of the first parts of the business going. And now it’s like sailing a little bit more smoothly. I’m not having to do that as much. now I’m like, freelance, hire out people. So I will say in the beginning, you’re probably gonna have to eat shit and like just man up, get through it and get it done yourself. But in a year, years time,
it should be a lot easier. should have delegated more of that. You should have systems running. So I would say building systems that can help you run without you having to do everything. Yeah. Yeah. I want to touch on New York City. So you are the guy for New York City, it seems. What is the biggest tourist trap in the city that everyone fall for, but it’s actually trash. there’s a lot of those. I mean,
Times Square is just a bunch of billboards. It makes no sense. It makes no sense. in capitalism. Yeah. It honestly, it honestly makes a lot of sense knowing America. is, it is the epitome of America. Yeah. Yeah. Just flashy lights and flashy ads. There is something that’s inspiring by it that like, I mean, I can’t remember the last time I did this, but when I was like newer to the city after college, I would like go there and just like, go sit on a step on the
big red steps and just like think at night though when there weren’t a lot of people. But I haven’t, I haven’t. definitely cooler at night than it is during the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can’t remember the last time I was actually in Times Square, but that one is a, some of you don’t need to go more than once. Yeah. I don’t know. I, when you live here, you don’t see the tourist traps. You’re not really going to a lot of the touristy places. So yeah, not too many. Do you have any? Not really yet.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (01:08:33.55)
probably Times Square is probably the only one as well. Okay. So where should people go instead? Give us Brett Conti’s secret spot. Ooh, I would say, to be honest, if you’re coming here as a tourist and like you want to really experience it, I would say the East Village. Some of my favorite restaurants are in the East Village or Lower East Side, and it’s a more raw, authentic New York experience. So
You could say like, what is it like the Citizen Hotel or something like that. Great semi-affordable hotel, but in a great location where you can walk to all of the best restaurants. You could be around more New Yorkers. When you’re in that area of the East Village, you don’t feel like you’re in, you know, Midtown or in a tourist centric place. So I would say East Village area. What are your favorite New York City restaurants? I would say I love like Little Frankie’s and Frank’s.
I love Lartuzzi. I’m saying a lot of Italian spots because I love Italian food as an Italian New Yorker. You and I went on a little man date the other day. We went to Kiki’s in the Lower East Side. That was a great spot. Yeah. I feel like East Village, Lower East Side, it’s hard to find a bad restaurant. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Do you think that New York City is as dangerous as the media portrays it to be? And what do you think the realities of living here are?
I’ve never felt unsafe. Maybe I used to live in the Bronx and that was a little bit sketchier. Okay. But like, love the Bronx. Yeah. But has my favorite bro. But second is the Bronx. Yeah. Also it’s like a sweet spot. Like that’s where my family migrated from Italy too. And was like tiny community there. Yeah. There’s a little Italy of the Bronx Arthur Avenue. but I was not in that part wherein I was living there. Like I was in the hood. No, no, no, no, no. It was.
You gotta like be alert, like, I will say Manhattan is safe. And super safe. Like I never felt unsafe here, but that doesn’t mean bad things can’t happen anywhere. So you do always have to be alert. I don’t take the subway much, so I don’t know what’s new down there, but from what I’ve seen on the news there, it’s been a little bit more tension, but again, I think.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (01:10:54.926)
It shouldn’t stop you from coming to New York. It’s not like it’s a war zone or anything. It’s somewhere that if you are very aware, you’ll be fine. I did get chased down the street by a crack head in broad daylight at 10 AM on a Tuesday. They’re usually just playing around though. guy was not playing around. They’re usually just like having fun with He was just like chasing me through a bottle at me. Yeah, he was having fun. know? Just some easy New York fun, you know?
If you had to move out of New York and never return, where would you go? I think I would do what I’m doing now, which is fully nomadic. Okay, never again. No city ever again can have my heart. I don’t know. I think of this all the time and maybe I’m going to get that answer from this new year of a lot of travel, but I don’t know where else I could live. Like how can you go from New York city to anywhere else? I can’t go to another city. Let show that I’ve seen that on a t-shirt.
There’s New Yorker nowhere. I don’t know if I could do a city. would have to be some type of like beach remote mountain town or something like that. Because New York is by far the greatest city in the world. So wrapping up, if you could go back to the kid just starting his YouTube channel with zero subscribers, what would be the main piece of advice you’d give him? If you really want it, you can do it. Anyone can do it. You have to really want it.
I jeopardized so much to make it happen. I would have sleepless nights. I posted a video every single day. So I would just tell you, you can do it. No matter what your niche is, no matter what you look like, no matter how good your videos are, you can do it. It’s just how bad do you want to do it? So I think you’re just gonna have to sacrifice a lot, a lot of sleep, maybe some friendships from hanging out with people and have to focus on this.
But if you want it, you can do it. Yeah. And if this was the last interview ever and you had 60 seconds to leave a message for the world, what would you say? Today is the youngest you’ll ever be. So if there’s something that you’ve been wanting to do, just do it right now because you might not get the chance in the future. So your future, your future self will thank you for the actions you do today. love that. Brett, thank you. Adam, thank you brother.
Metwally — That One Time Podcast (01:13:20.846)
We’ll see you in part three where you join the Mile High Club. You see me running up and down the street. And if you enjoyed this episode, please go to YouTube, search that one time with Adam Metwally and I will see you next week.
